For its fifth consecutive year, Edete’s precision pollination service has demonstrated a significant contribution to securing and increasing agricultural yields.
On February 2022, Edete completed an additional pollination trial at a commercial orchard. The trial consisted of 2 acres of almonds of Umm al Fahmm variety (Israel’s leading commercial variety) and 0.5 an acre of almonds of Kochva (53) variety. Edete’s pollination results, showed an increased yield of 28% for Umm al-Fahm and 31% for Kochva, compared with the adjacent rows of similar size and pollinizer cultivars that served as an untreated control. Edete’s pollination service was supplemental to bee pollination in both the control and pollinated plots.
This year’s pollination results were based on pure pollen of Kochav (54) and Ne Plus Ultra varieties that were extracted by Edete a year earlier and stored in its pollen bank. Edete’s pollen preservation technology allows for almond pollen to be stored for over 4 years without losing its viability or its germinability. Using stored pollen is a proven strategy for growers to manage climate change induced desynchronized bloom of various varieties or of male and female trees.
The genetically compatible pollen was dispersed in one application, at full bloom, using Edete’s proprietary 2BeTM autonomous pollinators. Edete’s unique precision pollination is fully controlled to minimize any waste of pollen.
Edete has conducted pollination services in California for pistachio for the past two years (82 acres in 2021 and 500 acres in 2022). In 2023 Edete plans to expand its pollination services to almonds, in California. Commercial pollination will be conducted at one of the leading almond growers’ farms. Furthermore, Edete continues to expand its services to additional almond and pistachio growers.
